12 October 2015

DelSheree Gladden - The Ghost Host - Blog Tour

Everyone thinks Echo Simmons is
crazy, but being The Ghost Host isn’t just a YouTube hoax like people
think. It’s the only way to control the ghosts haunting her…at
least until the FBI shows up asking
questions.

The first eighteen years of
Echo Simmons’ life have been less than ideal. On more than one
occasion her parents have considered committing her. They don’t
believe she sees ghosts or that they harass her on a daily basis. So when a
rogue ghost begins tormenting her, they’re the last people
she’s going to tell. Her best friends Holden and Zara are doing their
best to help, but ghost attacks are only the beginning of Echo’s
problems.

Handling the ghosts by giving
them a voice on YouTube through her webshow has been her saving
grace—even if her parents think it’s all a hoax—but
that gets a little complicated when the ghost of Madeline Crew reveals a little
too much about her previous life and the FBI shows up at her door wanting to
know how she gained access to long-buried government
secrets.

It just keeps getting worse
from there. Madeline’s message to her great grandson sparks a strange
connection between Echo and Malachi, which leads to Georgia, secrets, mistakes,
love, lies, and life changing
revelations.

Somehow, I always knew the
people I saw hovering around looking aimless were ghosts, and it never really
bothered me. Sometimes I talked to them when I was little. They never talked
back. Sometimes they would play with me, though. My mom used to tell people
what a good baby I was, how I never cried or fussed. She thought she had just
lucked out with an easy first kid. Really, I always had someone standing over
my crib smiling at me or making silly faces. Ghosts really seem to like being
around babies for some
reason.

It wasn’t until I got
a little older that I realized some of my ghostly friends were hanging around
for a reason. A few of them were just lonely and either weren’t ready
to move on or didn’t know how. I haven’t got a clue about
how to send them on their way, so I figure the least I can do is keep them
company.

Others, they had messages they
wanted to pass on. At first, I didn’t know how to do that without
getting into trouble. My mom refused to make phone calls or send my letters to
who she deemed were random strangers. I found ways to get the letters in the
mail, at least, without her knowing, but it wasn’t easy and they
occasionally got sent back to us when the address proved inaccurate. Mom
wasn’t happy when she found one and realized what I’d been
doing.

Holden was the one who came up
with the idea for the webshow. It made things a lot easier since my parents
think it’s just a funny hoax we like to pull, and it gives us a hobby
and keeps me out of trouble for the most part. That’s the biggest
reason they let me do it. As I got older and more capable, more able to help
the ghosts, they became more insistent. That’s when things got really
bad.

Up until that point, I
didn’t know the ghosts could affect my dreams, and not in a good way.
The nightmares got progressively worse, morphing into full on night terrors.
The headaches followed, though I’m still not sure if the ghosts were
trying to talk to me, or just doing whatever they could to get my attention.
Sometimes, their presence would become so oppressive as they tried to
communicate that I would completely zone out… which sent my grades
into the toilet and my behavior into the realm of unmanageable. The worst by
far is when they try to touch
me.

DelSheree Gladden lives in New
Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in
her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is
strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and
talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is
usually reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental
Hygienist.